Reddit users have been going wild over a picture which claims to show the last breakfast Neil Armstrong ate before he went to the moon.

But it has now emerged the image was taken months before the moon landing, and the last meal before takeoff was something quite different.

The image, showing the astronaut sitting alone at a table and eating what looks to be fried chicken and half a tinned peach, is on the front page of the social networking website, having been up voted 4836 times.

Real breakfast: The image of Armstrong’s last meal shows him sharing breakfast with his crew before takeoff

Reddit users have speculated on his eccentric meal choice, with one user saying, “I thought it was weird, too. But then I remembered that this man is willingly being rocketed to the moon with no promise of coming home. He could’ve asked for a couple of hookers and a joint, I wouldn’t say no to him.”

However, the image, which appeared in Time magazine, is actually of Armstrong eating a rather bizarre late-night dinner while reading the Wall Street Journal in his Texas home in March 1969.

Rocket fuel: Neil Armstrong drank coffee before the moon landing

An image from the actual last breakfast shows him eating a rather more conventional meal with his colleagues while having a last briefing before take off.

His biographer states the astronaut actually woke at 3am on the morning of December 21 1969 so he could eat with his crew.

Countdown: An extract from Ben Hubbard’s Neil Armstrong and getting to the Moon

According to the mission log book, the first man on the moon ate the usual breakfast fare of coffee, orange juice, toast and scrambled egg – but with a piece of steak on the side.

The user who posted it, lord_kmz later admitted their mistake, adding: “So his last dinner before leaving earth could probably have looked this way – not breakfast.”

This just goes to show you can’t trust everything you read on the internet.